Pain Physician 2009; 12:493-498 • ISSN 1533-3159
Ethics
The Marginalization of Chronic Pain Patients on
Chronic Opioid Therapy
John F. Peppin, DO
From: The Pain Treatment Center of the
Bluegrass, Lexington, KY.
Dr. Peppin is Director of the Clinical
Research Division, The Pain
Treatment Center of the Bluegrass,
Lexington, KY; Clinical Associate
Professor, University of Kentucky,
Lexington, KY; and Associate
Medical Director, Hospice of the
Bluegrass, Lexington, KY.
Address correspondence:
John F. Peppin, DO, FACP
Director Clinical Research Division
The Pain Treatment Center of the
Bluegrass
2416 Regency Road
Lexington, KY 40503
E-mail: [email protected]
Disclaimer: There was no external
funding in the preparation of this
manuscript.
Conflict of interest: None.
Manuscript received: 01/10/2009
Accepted for publication: 04/09/2009
Free full manuscript:
www.painphysicianjournal.com
T
The realities of treating chronic pain do not reflect the attention that marginalization of patients taking opioids has received. Physicians continue the same prejudices and biases that were present decades ago. One theory proposed to explain
this poor treatment has been titled, the “barriers to pain management.” The
barriers are not treated as moral issues, but rather as clinical aberrations and do
not explain continued poor treatment. However, the barriers do not explain certain types of cases where there appears to be specific unfounded concerns related to a specific class of medications, e.g, opioids. Four cases are presented, from
the authors experience, illustrating the marginalization of chronic pain patients
on chronic opioid therapy admitted to a tertiary care hospital. These types of
cases have not been presented in the literature previously and illustrate the failure of the barriers to explain marginalization. In each of these cases mental status changes was the presenting problem. However, in each of these cases, these
changes were not related to their opioids, but were explained by clear reasons,
other than opioids. Regardless, in each case, the attending physician blamed the
opioids, without further workup and stopped them reflexively. It is proposed that
there may be more complex psychosocial issues involved in the marginalization of
chronic pain patients. This case series illustrates a ubiquitous problem demanding
further examination and discussion. It is hoped that this case series will create interest in further research in this area.
Key words: Chronic pain, opioids, marginalization, bias, barriers
Pain Physician 2009; 12:493-498
he problem of treating both acute and chronic
pain has become such a serious concern that the
United States Congress dedicated 2000–2010 as
the “Decade of Pain Control and Research” to support
pain research and education (1). Unfortunately, media
attention has frequently been pejorative and focused
on diversion and abuse of scheduled medications
rather than reflecting the complexity of successfully
treating patients with chronic pain (2). Seventy-five
million Americans suffer persistent pain, and many
are chronically impaired in daily function (3). Ferrell
describes the current status of pain management as
“the moral outrage of unrelieved pain”(4). Although
the number of pain medicine physicians has increased,
Weinstein has shown that many physicians still
harbor the same prejudices towards patients taking
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Pain Physician: May/June 2009: 12:493-498
opioid analgesics that were described in the 1970s
(5). Thus the treatment of pain with opioid analgesics
continues to suffer from over 3 decades of inertia and
prejudice. As Rich states, “the silence on the failure of
caregivers to adequately address pain in the clinical
setting has been deafening” (6). If, as the American
College of Physicians Manual of Medical Ethics states,
“[T]he primary goals of the physician are to relieve
suffering, prevent untimely death, and improve the
health of the patient while maintaining the dignity
of the person,” then the medical profession has not
successfully fulfilled its responsibilities (7).
The question that requires analysis is: Why does
the health care system continue to provide substandard care of patients in pain? One proposed schema
to explain this phenomenon has been called “barriers
to pain management” and is listed in Table 1 (8-14).
However, critics of the “barriers” suggest that
they do not account for the persistence of poor pain
treatment (15,16). If it were as simple as alleviating
physicians’ concerns about addiction or regulatory
sanction, or improving the treatment of pain through
education, then pain treatment would have improved
dramatically over the past 3 decades. Yet despite the
dramatic growth of pain education through the development of professional pain organizations, pain journals, pain conferences, and continuing medical education, poor pain management persists in clinic practice.
It seems clear that the barriers are treated merely as
clinical aberrations rather than true moral, ethical, or
psychosocial issues (6). Since current attempts at explicating the failure of pain care have been unsatis-
factory, it is vital to understand why the treatment of
pain seems to be so different from the treatment of
other medical problems.
As can be seen from the brief discussion above,
a central aspect of the treatment of chronic pain
patients is the use of opioids and the reaction they
generate amongst health care professionals and the
public. However, how the health care community reacts to patients who are placed on long-term opioid
therapy is not well represented in the medical literature. This paper presents 4 cases that illustrate a pattern of provider reactions to pain patients who were
also taking opioids, and offers a discussion of possible
causes of the medically inappropriate behavior. This
paper posits that the cases described are not isolated
but rather manifestations of a more pervasive problem of marginalization. The cases are presented to
generate discussion and investigation into the more
complex psychosocial issues that are involved in the
marginalization of chronic pain patients, that the barriers theory may not take into consideration.
Case Studies
Case #1
A 68-year-old female presented to the ER for
atypical facial pain with concomitant weight loss and
depression. She had a history of facial pain for about
20 years. Over the prior 12–18 months she lost over 60
pounds, and became severely malnourished. This was
initially related to her major depression. Although
she had a long history of depression, it had worsened
Table 1. Potential barriers to effective pain treatment.
1) fear of addiction when using opioids (8)
2) legal obstacles and fear of regulatory agency sanctions (especially when using opioids) (9)
3) fear of side effects of medications (10)
4) ignorance of proper assessment of pain (11)
5) lack of appropriate education in pain management (10)
6) beliefs in how “proper” patients should respond, i.e., the “good patient” (12)
7) ignorance of pain physiology (13)
8) failure to identify pain relief as a priority (5 )
9) failure of the health care system to hold clinicians, physicians, and others accountable for pain relief
(5)
10) cost constraints and inadequate insurance coverage (10)
11) patient reluctance to take medications (14)
494 www.painphysicianjournal.com
The Marginalization of Chronic Pain Patients on Chronic Opioid Therapy
over the preceding months. She was admitted and the
pain medicine service was consulted. She was placed
on low dose methadone, as well as venlafaxine and
gabapentin. Her pain was reduced and she was sent
to in-patient rehabilitation to improve her functioning and nutrition. On a late Sunday afternoon she was
seen by the pain medicine service and the methadone
was increased from 2.5 mg TID to 3 mg TID. The gabapentin was increased from 200mg to 300 mg TID and
the venlafaxine from 75 to 150 mg per day. Two hours
later she was found to be unresponsive and was taken
to the emergency department and subsequently admitted to ICU. Once consciousness was regained she
was delirious and disoriented. She was seen by neurology who stated the episode was due to “narcotics”
and “medication overdose.” The pain service and internal medicine completed a further workup. She had
only received one increased dose of the methadone,
0.5 mg, and did not receive increased gabapentin or
venlafaxine. These medications were discontinued by
neurology; however, the patient failed to improve,
and her condition actually worsened. A further workup found an abdominal mass which proved to be pancreatic cancer that had metastasized to the brain. The
patient was placed back on low dose methadone and
her pain improved although she remained confused
and disoriented until she died in hospice.
Case #2
A 57-year-old male patient with a history of severe diabetes, diabetic peripheral polyneuropathy,
coronary artery disease, peripheral vascular disease,
and bilateral below the knee amputations due to
non-healing diabetic ulcerations was brought to the
ER after being found unresponsive at home. He had
a long history of severe nausea and vomiting due to
diabetic gastroparesis and had trouble keeping down
medications. He also had diabetic diarrhea, which further complicated his medical and pain management.
Two years previously, the pain medicine service had
started on a subcutaneous infusion of morphine, in
the outpatient setting, which worked well for his pain
and avoided the gastrointestinal route for obvious
reasons. He had been on the subcutaneous infusion
for over one year without any problem and at stable
doses. His kidney and liver function had been normal.
He was transferred to a tertiary care facility for further
care. The patient was seen by internal medicine and
a diagnosis of “narcotic overdose” was given and his
opioid infusion was completely stopped. Three days
www.painphysicianjournal.com later the pain medicine service was consulted. The patient was in florid opioid abstinence syndrome with
tachycardia, nausea, vomiting, diaphoresis, hypertension, and dramatically increased pain. A review of the
chart showed that this patient’s blood sugar had been
50 mg% when he arrived by ambulance to the ER. He
had received one amp of Dextrose 50 before being
transferred to the tertiary care facility. The patient’s
sub-cutaneous infusion was restarted and his pain finally came under control. He was alert and oriented
at discharge on the dose he had been on before his
admission.
Case #3
An 82-year-old female with a past history of multiple back surgeries, failed laminectomy syndrome, and
chronic severe lower back pain, was admitted through
the ER for an exacerbation of severe back pain. The
patient was seen by the pain medicine service. She had
been placed on a long-acting oxycodone formulation
of 40 mg TID by another pain physician in the community. She had been on this dose for well over 2 weeks
and brought an almost empty bottle with her. She had
also been placed on gabapentin 600 mg TID. She was
changed to sustained release 24-hour morphine at
120 mg per day since she had not been tried on oral
morphine before. The next day the patient was somnolent and hard to arouse. The primary service was
called and claimed it was “due to the narcotics.” The
pain medicine service noted that she had normal renal
and hepatic function when she entered the hospital,
had been on these medications before she was admitted, and that the primary service should reconsider
diagnostic impression. Additionally, it was mentioned
that her morphine dose was very conservative; since
she was opioid tolerant she should have accepted this
dose without problem. The primary service ignored the
pain service’s note. The patient developed hypotension that evening and the primary service was called.
The primary service told the nurse to “call the pain
people.” The pain medicine service gave the patient
a fluid bolus and ordered laboratories which showed
a BUN/Cr of 57/2.8. The patient was diagnosed with
acute tubular necrosis and acute renal failure and was
transferred to the ICU where renal failure was treated.
She had been placed on celecoxib by the primary service at admission. Two days later her delirium had not
improved. Neurology was consulted and said it was
“due to the narcotics” which had been stopped 3 days
earlier. The pain medicine service signed off the case
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Pain Physician: May/June 2009: 12:493-498
in protest due to the poor medical treatment this patient was receiving. She was subsequently placed on
ketorolac and hydrocodone/APAP, even though her
renal failure had been due to an NSAID.
Case #4
A 58-year-old female patient with peripheral
neuropathy due to diabetes, failed laminectomy syndrome, and arthritis presented to the ER with mental
status changes. She was seen in the ER and admitted
to the hospital with a presumptive diagnosis of “narcotic overdose.” The patient was on 4 hydrocodone/
APAP (10/325) tablets per day as well as baclofen 10
mg TID and gabapentin 600 mg TID. She had been on
these stable doses for the last 12 months. There were
no changes in her kidney or liver functions. Her pain
had been well-controlled on these stable doses. She
was admitted and all her analgesic medications were
stopped. Both the psychiatric service and the pain
medicine service were consulted. Pill counts showed
no evidence of overuse of her medications and both
services stated that her mental status changes were
unlikely a result of either her pain or psychiatric medications. A clear cause was never determined in-house,
but a fuller workup was left for the pain medicine service to do in the clinic. She was discharged back on her
same medications with the unsupported diagnosis of
“medication overdose.”
A discussion of these types of patients might help
in explicating the reasons for continued marginalization of chronic pain patients in general. I use marginalization defined as “…to relegate to an unimportant
or powerless position within a society or group”(17).
This term illustrates these 4 cases and their subsequent
outcomes. It also illustrates the failure of the barriers
to explain such marginalization. These cases were taken from a pain medicine hospital service which specializes in the medical management of chronic pain. In
each of these cases, patients on chronic opioid therapy
had events of altered consciousness which were treated as opioid toxicity purely by impulse, without further
workup or evaluation. The opioids were immediately
considered the reason for the altered conscientiousness and thoughts of other possible etiologies were
abandoned, prima facie. Through a discussion of these
4 cases it can be seen that other issues must be playing a major role in the marginalization these patients
received and the poor treatment decisions used by
the physicians involved. It is important to realize that
496 this article is not meant as a thorough discussion and
evaluation of this topic.
Discussion
Although this article presents only 4 cases from
a single tertiary Midwest metropolitan hospital, this
author believes they describe a pervasive and ubiquitous problem of marginalization of a specific group of
patients, i.e., chronic pain patients on chronic opioid
therapy who are admitted to tertiary care hospitals.
The aforementioned definition of marginalization is
illustrated in a clinical context by how the 4 cases were
approached by the physicians involved. It is my belief
that such marginalization is pervasive in the care of
chronic pain patients particularly if they are taking
opioids. In each of these 4 cases patients on chronic
opioid therapy had events of altered consciousness
which were treated as opioid toxicity, without further
workup or evaluation. The opioids were immediately
considered the reason for the altered consciousness
and thoughts of other possible etiologies were abandoned, prima facie. Describing similar cases will help to
better clarify whether this pattern is widely pervasive.
The 4 cases reveal a pattern of biased clinical
reasoning, leading physicians to reflexively attribute
changes in mental status to opioids while overlooking other causes. Why opioid medication might act as
a magnet for misdiagnosis in cases of mental status
changes is important to understand because of the
potential impact of this pattern on patient care.
The fear of abuse, addiction, and concern with
regulatory oversight should not have entered into the
consideration of any of these cases. Each of these patients was psychosocially stable with no aberrant behavior and was followed by a pain specialist who was
ultimately responsible for any regulatory issues of misuse or abuse. However, each patient presented with
mental status changes in a context where the notion
of a “good patient” should have less bearing on management (18,19). All of these patients had insurance
coverage for medications and treatment; therefore
concern with third party issues should not have been
prominent. In a hospital setting, medication administration was carefully monitored for compliance and
use. Clearly the patient’s mental status changes were
the most important issue during these admissions and
the assessment should have been no different than
for any other case of mental status changes. Although
many of other medications have delirium as a poten-
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The Marginalization of Chronic Pain Patients on Chronic Opioid Therapy
tial side effect, it was the “narcotic” that was initially
attributed as causal (and became a myopic focus),
even though clinically the patients had demonstrated tolerance to the CNS effects of opioids. Although
fear of side effects could explain not initiating opioid
analgesics, it does not explain why opioids become a
de facto “cause” for each of these patient’s delirium,
given that each had been on opioids for months prior
to admission.
There was no question that the hospital involved
did not hold these physicians accountable. However,
in general, “medical staffs” often suffer from the
same biases leading to marginalization as the physicians treating the 4 cases above. Green et al (20) have
documented that most physicians practicing in the
United States have not received appropriate education in the pathophysiology, evaluation, and management of chronic pain conditions in outpatient, acute
hospital, and palliative care settings. Apparently in
these cases, the workup of mental status change,
which should be standard medical practice, was subverted by what must be assumed to be a psychosocial
bias leading to erroneous clinical reasoning in the face
of data that demonstrate that pain itself and other
etiologies are more common causes of delirium than
opioids (21,22).
The term “opiophobia” has been used in the literature, but it is not clear why there is a “phobia”
against the use of opioids for pain, and this discussion
needs to be addressed in more detail. Again, as Rich
states, “We should not be surprised if, when closely
examined, opioidphobia is complex and multifaceted” (6). It is this complexity and multifacetedness that
must be further explored.
There has been little in the literature addressing
the rationale behind the marginalization of chronic
pain patients on opiate therapy. The “barriers theory”
does not explain why these patients were so poorly
treated. Health care professionals may respond to
those in chronic pain at a deeper, more visceral level
that may partially explain marginalization. Thus the
lens of psychology may be one way to begin the discussion on this issue (6). Dr. Samuel Perry reflects on
the under treatment of burn patients: “…Investigating the under-medication for pain … revealed a grand
www.painphysicianjournal.com irony: the staff’s need to preserve a modicum of pain
stemmed from the same dynamic that made patients
preoccupied with pain, they were all struggling under
the most regressive and threatening of circumstances to maintain a coherent sense of self and confirm
that they are still alive” (23). Perry additionally states,
“…The widespread reluctance among medical professionals to prescribe adequate doses of narcotics also
may derive from unconscious factors, including the
projected wishes and fears of defying constraints and
the need to preserve a modicum of pain to define the
sick role, to maintain ego boundaries and to provide
reassurance that the patient is alive” (24).
Everyone will have pain. However, the number of
hours given to pain and palliative medicine in medical schools does not reflect the pervasiveness of this
experience (25). Since pain is universal, and since the
goals of medicine are to relieve suffering, it is difficult
to understand why professional medical educational
organizations have not been more aggressive in addressing these issues. There are data to suggest that
changes in medical education can impact medical students’ attitudes towards pain treatment and pain patients (26). The Association of American Medical Colleges and other organizations responsible for medical
school curriculum and accreditation must take a leadership role in these areas. I argue that medical education needs a twenty-first century review, similar to
that of Flexner in 1913 (27). However, even if major
changes were to occur today, it would take decades
before these would be evaluated in clinical practice.
Therefore, investigations into such poor care of chronic pain patients are critically important. Investigations
into issues of race and gender have generated understanding of biases and prejudices and have led to improving the prior marginalization of these groups. A
similar approach could be applied to reduce bias(es)
toward chronic pain patients on opioid therapy.
The above cases are presented in hope of beginning a dialogue that will form the basis of more
in-depth discussion and research. A methodologically rigorous approach will be required to define the
causes of bias and to develop a rationale for changing
practice patterns that will improve the quality of life
for chronic pain patients.
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